Tehran, Iran, July 4
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad, A. Shirazi - Trend:
The head of Russia's Center for Contemporary Iran Studies, Rajab Safarov, called on Tehran and Moscow to set up a joint bank and facilitate trade transactions between the two countries.
"Banking problems are major obstacles in the way of Iran-Russia trade ties," Safarov told Trend.
Stressing that Tehran and Moscow should take the necessary measures to remove the obstacles as soon as possible, he said, "Iran and Russia should have at least one specialized bank".
This bank should be different from other banks in a way that it activities and services will not be suspended by sanctions, Safarov noted.
"The bank should start its work with foreign currencies and later uses national currencies of the two countries," he said.
The head of Russia's Center for Contemporary Iran Studies also said that time is ripe for Russia to increase its exports to Iran and further established its foothold in its market.
Safarov added that Russia can invest in the sectors of technology, goods, and various projects in Iran and Russian banks can guarantee this.
He further described impending US sanctions against Iran as unfair and said, "Russia is deeply saddened by this US move and is in talks with the EU to support and save the Iran nuclear deal".
Safarov stressed that the EU should compensate for the loss of Iranian firms following the US sanctions.
US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - plus Germany.
Trump also said he would reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.